Putting a Name to a Face
by yoru no ame
Summary: A response to an old challenge by 'a boy named maggie.' Kakei waits impatiently for the arrival of a man who will change his life.


A boy named maggie's challenge – A fic of any length about Saiga and Kakei containing the following: tissue boxes, manila folders, and ink.

Disclaimer – I do not own Legal Drug.

* * *

Putting a Name to a Face

The moving boxes strewn haphazard across the living room floor were, for the most part, still full, but it was the smaller box next to the sofa that concerned him at the moment and simply staring at it, as he had been for the past five minutes, was not helping. In the four days at his new apartment, Saiga had hardly moved from the couch and if not for the nearly empty box of tissues, that is exactly how he would have stayed. As it was, he would have to venture out soon. Having no desire to trek all the way to the one store he knew in the area, he settled back down, determined to find someplace a little closer.

* * *

Studying and working extra jobs had occupied his time during school but now that he had graduated and finally opened Green Drugstore, there was nothing left to do but wait. There were three of them, three young men – though presently two couldn't be more than boys…8, maybe10 years old. The other one, the man closer to his own age, he would be the first. That there was no telling whether it would be by two days or two years was the source of a constant stream of irritation.

While most would find running a drugstore alone to be stressful, Kakei was glad for the never-ending work; it was all he had to take his mind off the waiting. His gift of foresight told him a great deal, yet some of the most important details were still missing. He had spent years preparing for the arrival of those three young men without even knowing something as simple as their names.

There had been very few customers that morning and so the time flew by in a mundane mess of paperwork and products. Aside from a quick visit by a long time family acquaintance – Himura-san, who had mentioned something about an important favor but left, not wanting her children to be late for school, before she had time to explain – it was turning out to be an uneventful day.

Kakei closed the store briefly after the noon time rush was over. Instead of spending the time as he should by eating his lunch – his cooking had never been appetizing anyway – he mused over the visions that were coming with increasing frequency. On a whim, he raided his stock pile of office supplies for a pack of folders. They were the plain manila ones he used to store each customer's records. He pulled three out of a pack of five and grabbed an expanding filing folder to keep them in. The expanding folder he labeled "Employees" before he reopened the store and went back to work.

As the day wore on, the blank tabs of the manila folders seemed to call his name. He had only ever had bad experiences trying to force a vision to tell him something it wasn't willing to give, but the thought was still tempting. Was it so much to ask to want to finish labeling those folders? To know the names of the boys he had opened the store for in the first place? To know the name of the man he was going to love?

It was just before dinner, when Kakei was busy restocking bar soap, that he failed to notice the sound of his latest customer's entrance.

* * *

It turned out that "Green Drugstore" was not the closest tissue vendor. Saiga still managed to drag his tired, aching body the entire distance without too much trouble; the chance to meet the store's attractive owner was worth the extra effort and the medicine he had taken two hours ago finally seemed to be kicking in. He smoothed out his hair and adjusted his sunglasses before entering the store in search of more than just tissues.

Bells attached to the top of the door jingled as he walked though. Immediately glancing around in hopes of spotting the person who had become the true purpose of the trip, Saiga was disappointed to find the front register unmanned. A small sign read, "Register Closed" and no other customers appeared to be in the store. He double checked the sign in the window to confirm that the store was indeed open. Was this place _really_ a drugstore? An open store with no staff and no customers seemed a bit shady, but then, with the way he made his own living, he hardly had room to judge.

He decided to take to looking for the tissues first, then the man. His idea of a good first impression was not, "Hi, I'm Saiga. You should let me buy you dinner sometime, oh and by the way, I have a terrible cold, where can I find the tissues?" Not that he would be so blunt or straight-forward. No, he had to be charming and smooth. A situation such as this had to be handled delicately, lest the prey catch onto his game and run before he has sufficient chance to prove himself a worthy match.

Finding the tissues was not a problem, as luck would have it, they were in the aisle directly opposite the check out. He grabbed the first box he saw before turning to look down the next row over. Had he been paying more attention, he might not have chosen the style with the strange, long eared rabbit creatures decorating the sides.

He took a quick look down each row before moving on to the next. It wasn't until the second to last aisle from the end that he found his target. The tail of the man's white lab coat spread out on the floor behind him as he squatted down to adjust some of the price labels on the lowest shelf.

The man was even more attractive in person, so Saiga took a moment to enjoy the view before he announced himself. He started simply. "Excuse me. I was hoping you could help me with something."

Without standing, or even bothering to look at him, the pharmacist began to answer. "Of course." And here is where he began to turn his head. "I'm sure I c – " was as far as he got before a look of surprise flashed across his features. As quick as it had come, it was gone, and by the time he had his head fully tilted to address him properly, a small smile had settled across his lips – quite nice looking lips, Saiga noticed, though official judgment would have to wait until he could touch them…preferably with his own. The smaller man stood, one fluid movement, before he began again, smile still in affect. "I'm sure I can help you find _just_ what you're looking for."

Saiga chuckled, not his usual, unrestrained laugh, but a soft light hearted sound. He didn't want his amusement to be viewed as an insult, but if only this man knew…. He wasn't a person who ever needed help _finding_ anything. Catching what he had found though, that was another story.

Somehow, the store manager seemed to know that he had already found all he was after, so he made no complaints as the pretty druggist lead him back to the register at the front of the store. After setting his purchase on the counter, he returned to his discreet ogling while his item was rung up.

The store was well lit but the view would still be better without his sunglasses. He took them off while doing his best to put on a charming smile. The reaction wasn't all he'd hoped for; instead of a return smile, the man behind the counter looked bewildered.

A little good natured teasing never hurt anyone – and it certainly was fun, especially with the pretty ones. "You didn't think they were permanent did you?" He asked while indicating the glasses.

The slight chuckle from the other man – Kakei, according to the name tag – was gratifying. Saiga always had appreciated a man who would play along. "It's just, your eyes, they're–" and here Saiga _had_ to cut in.

"Oh, I see. You're entranced already. Well…" He placed his left hand on the far side of the counter and leaned his whole body forward. If the movement brought their faces unreasonably close for two people who had only just met…well, neither pulled away, so there wasn't a problem. "Don't make it too easy for me," he said as he carefully extracted the pen from Kakei's breast pocket, completely ignoring the one left out next to the cash register for customers.

After pulling away so that he could grab the wallet out of his back pocket, he retrieved the money for the tissues along with what he hoped would be his ticket to good company in the near future. He used the just stolen pen to make a quick modification to the card – moving always was a pain when it came to things like this – and returned the pilfered item to its proper place, taking special care to insert the small cream colored card into the pocket along with it. "I like a good challenge."

When Kakei smiled back at him this time, he couldn't help but laugh in earnest, things were just going so smoothly!

But as his rich laughter descended into a fit of coughing, the mood was ruined. His medicine was obviously wearing off; the phlegm in the back of his throat was starting to make the most disgusting rattling noise. He decided it would be best for his image if he left before he hacked up something he would have to spit out. So when the coughing died down, he placed the money on the counter and returned his sunglasses to their proper place. Dejected, he let out a heavy sigh, said, "See ya' around," and scooping up his purchase, headed for the door.

* * *

It was then that Kakei decided this man's gallant attempt at being seductive, while so obviously feeling terrible, was charming. It wouldn't do to be thought of as easy, so he would have to take things a little slower than he would like and after that challenge, _'Don't make it too easy,'_ he settled for being slightly mischievous. As his latest customer walked out the door, he called out in a volume only slightly above normal, "You know, you'll recover faster if you get plenty of rest. That means real sleep, no cheating."

Wondering if the man would be able to figure out how much he knew from the 'real sleep' comment, he reached into his pocket to retrieve what had been added when the pen was returned. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before reading.

The name card(1) was simple with only one word and a phone number, though the typed number had been crossed out and a new one handwritten in its place. There was no address, no company name or job title, not even the man's given name. The two symbols read, "purification" and "high mountain." His mind quickly sifted through the various possible readings before he arrived at the one that he knew was correct – not through any special power, but _knew_ all the same. Saiga.

He paid particular attention to the strokes of each symbol as he reproduced Saiga's name onto one of the folders he had dug out during lunch. He waited a moment for the ink to dry before taking it back to his office. They would only ever contain boring information – tax documents, health insurance forms, beneficiary claims, emergency contact numbers, everything one would expect to find at an ordinary pharmacy, another layer of normality to mask the true purpose of his store – but there was still a certain satisfaction in sliding the newly labeled folder in next to his own.

The day had turned out to be quite eventful after all. Not only did he have a name, but he had even been able to see Saiga's eyes, his perfect green eyes. He hadn't been expecting that. In all honesty, he had hoped he wouldn't, had hoped he wouldn't have to live through what he now knew was yet to come, had hoped it was already over and done with. Events were already set in motion, even with his gift, there was nothing he could do.

Despite that, the irritation he had felt earlier, the need to be constantly busy, they were abating. A calmness was growing, taking root and settling in for good around the owner of Green Drugstore. The other boys might take years to arrive, but now, with only one name, he could wait patiently for everything else to fall into place.

* * *

(1) In case you are interested, the Japanese word is "meishi." They are essentially business cards that you give to someone when you meet for the first time. They contain your name, contact information, where you work, and your title. When exchanging meishi, it is customary to bow and use both hands in the transaction. From what I understand, meishi are important in helping people know what degree of formality is appropriate. I chose to use the translation "name card" (as is the case in my college text book) as opposed to "business card" to further encourage the feeling that Saiga's motives are social and not business in nature (as though any of us had doubts).

Author's Note: This storyline is now continued under the title "Falling into Place." Please check it out on my author page and thanks for reading!


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